Dance

It doesn't take long before people learn that I love to dance. Dancing is a type of freedom with a feeling that should be almost unexplainable because it's just that ethereal. However, if I were to honestly describe the feeling of freedom when I dance, I'd say it's a freedom from anything people really think or what they have to say in critique or praise. It's a form of expression for me and it's really awkward to have people judge it to say it was good or bad simply because it comes from my heart. It's genuine and honest so there really is no good or bad to it, in my opinion.

I love to dance because it make me feel good. That freedom is a great feeling but I also feel like when I dance, I get to share another part of who I am. I love the sweat equity and the feeling that hard work brings after such a creative process. I really enjoy seeing a final product after hours and hours of long, intense practice. I also really enjoy seeing how my body adjusts and I improve on certain moves that at one point, I would never have been able to do without falling. I also love it because aside from the hard work to learn new moves, many moves just come naturally to me. I dance when I'm really happy about something especially really awesome food (greedy, I know) or a really good deal! ;-) I will literally do a jig in my seat in front of some really good food or over the stove, if I'm cooking it.

My first memories of developing a strong passion for dance started as a little girl in the living room of my parents' house. Billy and Sarah Gaines were a Christian duo that I danced to A LOT. Think a more edgier version of Bebe and Cece Winans or if Michael and Janet Jackson if they sang about Christ. I used to wait for everyone to clear out of the living room and I would LITERALLY dance my heart out. I'm not kidding. I would dance so hard that if someone walked in the room, I'd be embarrassed because I was SUPER into it and there was no way to play it off like, "Oh! I was just jogging in place!" No, ma'am. I was definitely doing the Running Man. This is too funny to even write about it because it was such a bizarre habit and shame on me! I still do it. Not as often as I used to but I still enjoy my solo dance parties.

So right now, I'll practice three times a week. I also practice with the group I am teaching praise dancing to. We meet once a week on a Sunday and it feels awesome. At the beginning of the year, I decided that I really wanted to grow as a dancer so I decided to enroll in dance lessons. The goal is to take both modern and tap dance lessons this year. I really want to get good at modern dance and I really want to at least BEGIN tap dance. I chose modern dance because the dancers are so incredibly graceful and it looks like something I could really be great at. While in undergrad, one modern dance gym class showed me that I would love really master it. I also chose tap dance because as a kid, once I was ready for church, I used to go downstairs by the door and pretend I was a tap dancer on the tile floor. I used to love the little Sesame Street tap dance "commercials" with Savion Glover and was hooked. I never took lessons though. Well, now is the time and I look forward to the experiences. Modern dance class starts next week! ;-)

Nothing Else Matters

Nothing else matters. Nothing in this world will do. Jesus you're the center and everything revolves around you. From my heart to the heavens, Jesus be the center. It's all about You. Yes, it's all about You. 

That song is one of my favorite worship songs to sing and listen to. Israel's music is incredibly beautiful. The words are simple and the music really sets the tone for worship. I really do want Jesus to be the center of it all in my life. From beginning to the end, it needs to always be Jesus. 

What does it look like to have a heart for Christ? I think that oftentimes, we believe that when we see someone worshipping, lifting their hands or expressing emotion during worship songs, that means they love God and have a heart that longs to please Him. It could be true but man looks at the outward appearance and God looks at the heart. I'm not judging anyone to say that their walk is determined by how well they praise God in public. I do believe that having a heart for Christ goes further than what you see in a public worship setting. 

Having a heart for Christ can be manifested in your thought life and your morals. Even though most people are aware of what a Bible is and how to get access to it, the most potent way to share the Bible is by living it out. It's easy to sing along with songs that prick your heart but it's harder to live out a life that reflects the conviction you've received about who God is and how you should live as a result of knowing Him. The world doesn't read Bibles. The world reads Christians. As a Christian, does your life reflect the heart of God? We are sinful human beings and we will mess up. Let's be clear. However, God grants mercy and while it shouldn't be taken for granted, it is imperative that we recognize our need for Him in order to live a life that is pleasing to Him. 

In the past, I've struggled with giving some guys the time of day because even though they may be in church, it's painfully apparent that there is not a interest in the things of God. Our heart's desire bleed through. If you have a heart's desire for basketball, tv, work, multiple women, status, etc., it will eventually show itself. It will show through your behavior, the conversation you keep and the friends you have. It's kind of ironic because even in the social media age, where everything is now public, people completely expose themselves through their online content. I've been in many conversations where people will suggest that their social media accounts don't accurately express the things they're interested in. I beg to differ. There are certain subjects you will never see discussed on my accounts simply because I will not entertain them. They are grossly ungodly and it's really difficult for me to give anything a platform that proclaims Satan as the leader. I do my best to lift up Christ. In addition to that, I won't put out certain comments on my various accounts simply because that's not where my head is at. When I listen to some of the songs that are out now, I literally have to google some of the words because of the way slang and vulgarity have continued to develop. 

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 

Make sure your mouth reflects a heart that is desperate for Christ and filled by His love! 

Day #26 - Some more gratitude

I didn't take time out to do a post on Sabbath. Sabbath is still showing itself to be quite a challenge for me in terms of making time to sit down and write a post. By the time I got home last night, I was not thinking about any #my500words challenge. I now have to make sure I take care of days 17, 18, 19, and 25. Overall, 4 days missed out of 26 isn't the greatest but I'm pushing to finish strong and not give up! I'm really happy that I've kept up with the challenge for the most part. 

I'm going to do a recap of all the things I'm grateful for. It's been a long weekend and I'm tempted to complain. I'm trying to get in the habit of focusing on the roses in my life instead focusing on the thorns. 

1. I'm grateful for a car that takes me safely around and about. I've been driving a lot all weekend and I'm really thankful for the flexibility and blessing of my own car. I really don't want to take that for granted because I could be walking, stranded or stuck taking a bus. 

2. I'm grateful for the opportunity to minister in song this weekend. I've sung "I need you now" by Smokie Norful a billion times within the past couple months. Every time I sing it, it becomes more and more real to me how much I truly need God right now. I love how the songs I choose become my own personal testimony/reminder that God is able. It's like I'm encouraging myself in the Lord. 

3. Dance rehearsal was AWESOME today. The girls are continuing to come to rehearsal. I'm so thankful for that. There was a point when I was the only one showing up to rehearsal so I'm grateful I'm not alone anymore (praise the Lord for increase!!!). 

4. I'm also really happy that the ladies actually go home and practice their parts. As a result, they come back to rehearsal better than they were before. These ladies inspire me to be more committed in consistent as a leader. 

5. God placed a devotional thought on my heart to share with the ladies in rehearsal today and it was exactly what they needed to hear. It was so crazy how I had no clue that it would bless them in the way they needed it. I love how the Holy Spirit just works and allows us to be relational and connect with others in a way that can draw them closer to Christ. 

6. I also had promenade rehearsal on Saturday night. It's cool because I get to stretch myself as a dancer and a teacher. It's challenging and I like that. I want to improve as a teacher and a communicator. I believe that the dance ministry and the promenade allow me to push myself in those areas. 

7. I'm grateful that everyone who came to promenade rehearsal seemed to get the steps down. There were a few glitches here and there but it's practice. They're learning and retaining a lot of the information which I'm glad for. 

8. I'm grateful for a place to lay my head and call it a night. 

Good night! :-) 

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Practice-  a repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it. 

I really enjoy listening to really good audiobooks. Audiobooks are great because the information is still transferred but in a way that allows you to multi-task. Usually when I'm listening to audiobooks, I'm doing tasks that are pretty mundane like driving or doing chores. I'm currently listening to So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport and so far, it's been a pretty pleasurable listening experience. The book focuses on why skills trump passion in the quest to find work you can really love and enjoy. 

While folding and putting away laundry, I was listening to the audio. I learned about The Craftsman Mindset. The Craftsman Mindset focuses on what you can offer the world through your work. It also focuses on developing and perfecting whatever skill set you may have to offer. There were a couple examples of people who meticulously worked on their craft for hours upon hours upon hours a day. As a result, the product of all those hours of work resulted in a skill so good that it was impossible for it to be ignored. 

It's interesting because there are so many things that I would love to be better at but I don't love it enough or else I would put in the time and energy to perfect it. Doing this writing challenge is awesome because it's forcing me to do something I've always loved to do and do regularly but in a different way. As a result, it's helped to give me a fresher approach and outlook to the craft that I respect so much. The only way to get better at something is to learn more about it and practice it a ton. If you don't use it, you'll lose it. In the Elevation Church podcast that I listened to last night, I heard pro football player Steve Smith talk about feeling alone. When he got into that space of isolation, he would get his walkman and listen to music. While listening to music on the floor, he would practice catching. He would do this for hours and hours. Some might think that it was a completely mindless act that was worthless but now, anyone would beg to differ especially since he now plays in the NFL. My sister, Dionne spent a lot of time alone during one year in college. During that time, she used to watch YouTube videos of makeup tutorials. As a result of practicing everything she learned, she became really good at it and now people come to her (myself included) for how to figure out certain makeup looks. 

I've called 2014 my purple year. When I was a child, there was a year where I made a silly promise that I would kiss everything purple. If I couldn't kiss it with my mouth (because it was too far away or highly inappropriate), I would blow it a kiss. I've decided to implement a similar concept this year in that I will focus on "kissing" or becoming more intimate with the things that I really love and/or want to become better at. I want to become more creatively confident in what I produce (writing, dancing, singing, etc). I want to become more intimate and in sync with my creator, Jesus Christ. I lastly want to become more in tune with myself as a woman (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc). Every single thing that I mentioned takes PRACTICE. Some are at a different level than others but they all require a committed amount of daily practice. So far, so good. I must say! :-) 

Practice is highly underrated but highly profitable if implemented. 

What will you practice today?

Trying Too Hard

It was cold today and as the sun set, the temperatures continued to drop. I'm very grateful for working heat in my car. I drove home from a good day at work. One of the boys turned 2 years yesterday. The other boy couldn't get in my arms fast enough to say hello. I also had a happy reunion with a woman I'll affectionately call G-ma here on the blog. :) 

Even though the day was good, I was ready to get comfy in my pjs and get some writing done. Instead, I drove home with the mindset that I couldn't get comfortable. There was a load of laundry with my name on it that was in need of a visit to the laundromat. So, I went home, changed clothes, sorted clothes and within 20 minutes, was back out the door. I arrived at the laundromat and I was pleasantly surprised at how empty it was. So I put my clothes in the wash, put my headphones on, and listened to the latest podcast from Elevation Church. 

In this podcast, Steven Furtick, senior pastor interviewed Steve Smith, a pro football player from the Carolina Panthers football team. The main topic was passion. Within the first 5 minutes of the podcast, Furtick said something that just sat so well in my spirit and I could've shouted in the laundromat. He was explaining how much he loved people with passion. He noted how sometimes people will point out others who seem to "try too hard" and mock them for it. However, he defended those people who "try too hard". He said that he liked those people because at least they try. It's a lot better to try too hard than to not try at all. I can't tell you how many times I've felt like a loser for feeling that my ideas are "too much" or that I try too hard or I am "doing the most". When I'm excited about something, I do want to go all the way with it. At the same time, I want it to look effortless or as if I woke up and was naturally amazing at said skill. In reality, I know I have to work. I don't mind the work. I actually enjoy the work. However, I don't want it to look like work because I don't want to embarrassed or looked at as being totally pressed...even if I am. 

I love to write. There is a certain freedom that I feel when I write. I thorougly enjoy putting words together in a way that adequately conveys a message and adequately answers a question in someone else's heart. I agreed to do this #my500words challenge because I want to become better. I blog because I want to become better. I read because I want to become better. I try because I want to become better. It doesn't matter whether or not you "like" it or think I try too hard. I'd much rather try too hard than not try at all. I'd rather die giving it all I had than die not giving. 

If I'm going to live full and die empty, I'm going to have to try a few things in life. 

In life, it's probably best to try as hard as you can. 

If at first I don't succeed, try and try again. 

The Golden Rule

"Treat others how you would want to be treated"- What a perfect mantra to live by! 

There is a reason why that particular rule is considered golden.  It's so deeply rooted in love. 

No matter how sadistic a person may seem, at the core, we ALL want to be loved. We don't want to be merely tolerated. We want love, appreciation and kindness shown to us. It's interesting because we may WANT love but we don't necessarily go out of our way to give love. The Bible does note in Acts 20:35 that it is more blessed to give than to receive but does that truly transfer over when it comes to loving the people in your life? 

It can be easy to love people on the good days or when they've done something great for you. The challenge comes in when a person is inconsiderate, rude or downright hateful. Human nature usually kicks in, says that I can bypass loving that person. Additionally, I get a golden pass to return evil for evil. That's not the case though. 

I'm reading Steps to Christ by Ellen G. White with my church. One of my pastors creates these incredible study guides to go along with the chapters we're reading. I'm really enjoying it. One of the things I was reminded of in the Chapter 1 was that when Jesus was here on Earth, every word He spoke, even if it was a rebuke, OOZED (and continues to ooze) love. There were two thought-provoking testaments to the love Christ showed that I highlighted in my book. 

Thought #1: 

"Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in every act of His life; His heart went out in tender sympathy to the children of men. He took man's nature, that He might reach man's wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Even little children were attracted to Him. They loved to climb upon His knees and gaze into the pensive face, benignant with love. - (SC 11.2)

It just seems natural to be afraid to approach someone who everyone sees as important. I'd be nervous to approach President Obama or any other former president for that matter. There are many famous and a few not-so-famous people that I'd be afraid to approach. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be a little tense about running into Suge Knight in the grocery store. Mind you, it's not necessarily the air that the person projects. Sometimes, it's our own mental stronghold that keeps us from approaching others. At the same time, random kids aren't running and jumping in my lap! Lol! The only way to be that approachable is to learn to not only give love like Christ did but make a commitment to become like God because essentially, God is love. 

Thought #2: 

Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in love. He exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful, kind attention in His intercourse with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave a needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. 

 We are supposed to follow that example. I get annoyed with something and I feel like I have the right to be rude. Christ was NEVER rude. In my experience, it seems like in order to get things done with certain people, you HAVE to be rude or they'll trample all over you. I don't want to be anyone's doormat. However, if I want to be like Christ, Christ was NEVER rude. Eeek. Never rude?!?!?!?!?! Nope! He was NEVER rude! He never spoke a severe word. A severe word could be something as "harmless" as cracking a joke at someone's expense behind their back. If it's something you couldn't say to their face because you know it's hurtful, don't say it.

It all goes back to treating others how you would want them to treat you. After all, the golden rule, in it's finest hour, reveals love.

I Surrender All

"All to Jesus, I surrender.

All to Him I freely give. 

I will ever love and trust Him. 

In His presence, daily live. "

It's a song in most hymnals. It's a song called I Surrender All. I think that's becoming one of my favorite hymns. It's really resonating deeply in a different place for me. I've heard the song a billion times growing up in church and I've ALWAYS loved it but not as much as I do now. It's interesting how certain scriptures or songs can come alive to you in a different way once you're actually living it. I'm finding myself in a place where I have no choice but to surrender everything to God. It's a pretty humbling space to be in and it can be quite uncomfortable at times. However, I do see how God is moving in a special way. I'm beginning to see life's challenges through a different lens. It's no longer, "Why me?" as much as it's "God, how can I grow more like you through this?" I'm desperately searching to find how God can be glorified through everything I face. It's a different type of education. Now, I'm responsible for completing the study guides and homework so I can pass the tests but no teacher is standing over my back to get it done by a certain time. I do believe the God is sovereign and He holds time in His hands. Ultimately, since He's the author of time, His timing is always perfect. I also believe that God can design for us to stay in a certain place for a certain amount of time but based on our obedience or disobedience, we can make the stay a lot longer and more unpleasant than it needs to be. If you don't believe me, look at the children of Israel. A journey that should've taken a little less than 2 weeks ended up lasting 40 years. It sounds hard to fathom but how many of us have been disobedient to God more times than we'd like to count? God's grace is sufficient to cover all of our weaknesses. He can also make ALL (all meaning everything good and bad that we do) things beautiful in His time. I just want to make sure I do my part so I'm not stuck in a place longer than God has designed me to be. The only way I really believe I can do this is by making a commitment to surrender my will, my desires, my plans to God. I've seen a quote floating around the internet. It says, "Dear God, Help me to remember that your plans are better than my dreams. Amen." That prayer is so real to me. Admittedly, I can be so stubborn and stuck in what I believe is the right thing to do, that I won't really listen in to Christ and be open to the moving of the Holy Spirit. I must be flexible. I must be willing. I must be fully surrendered. Living for Christ and surrendering my all isn't something I can do halfway. The beauty of a full moon is that it is fully surrendered to illuminating the light of the Sun. Half moons aren't nearly as captivating as full moons. To be a full moon for Christ,  I must be committed to always myself away so He can use me. 

"I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed Savior. I surrender ALL." 

Amen. 

2000 Words Behind...

I am a couple days behind. I have 2000 words to play catch up on. I realize that the weekend is my kryptonite. I'm good during the week in terms of routine but once Friday hits, it's a wrap. In addition to that, I've had a 4 day weekend since today was MLK Jr. day. The day flew by. There's a winter storm brewing and we're supposed to get hit pretty badly here. I went to the store to purchase a ice scraper for my car and I saw a bunch of trucks and news cameras set up to do coverage on the winter storm. However, it really doesn't look like anything is potentially coming. Usually when it's about to snow, the sky has a weird cloudiness to it. Tonight, the sky seemed pretty clear. I don't know. We'll see. Another two days off from work would be pretty fantastic though. I can't lie. It would give me more time to work on my own to-do list. My to-do list seems to grow as time goes on. It never quite feels like everything is done. Mentally, it's a bit of a stressor. There is ALWAYS something to be done. I wonder if there will ever be a day when I'll sit down and think about how I finished EVERYTHING I needed to do. Or maybe I should just get to a place where I sit down and think about how it's okay that I didn't finish everything that I needed to do. I don't ever want to operate in a place of complete laziness. Maybe that's why I might feel like a bit of a failure when I look at my planner and only see 1 or 2 things checked off for the day. I don't know.

I am grateful for the gift of laughter. Right now, my sister is totally distracting me with reruns of The Office. My cousin used to tell me how hilarious the show was. She tried to convince me to watch it but I never really sat down and took the time to watch more than one episode. Man, have I been missing out? The show is really funny. The show is filled with a lot of awkward people and dry, sarcastic humor. Our favorite character is Dwight. He's super weird and he never ceases to amaze me with horribly inappropriate things he'll say next. I never turn on the tv when I'm by myself so if I'm watching The Office, it's because my sister turned it on. I'm not kidding when I say that it can easily take us an hour and a half just to get through one episode. We'll laugh really hard, pause the scene, laugh some more, rewind it, analyze it and then let it play. We do this with almost every scene. So you can imagine, I really haven't seen too many episodes. We'll even watch certain episodes over and over. There's one episode where Dunder-Mifflin (the company on the show) gets a commercial. There were so many hilarious moments including a jingle that my sister will not stop singing. All in all, The Office and an impending snow storm are my reality right now.

Good night! :-)

Gratitude

I remember a sermon my senior pastor shared a couple years ago about giving thanks and gratitude. It was the Sabbath right after Thanksgiving in 2011. That was an incredible message about cultivating a lifestyle of thanksgiving and gratitude for what God has done and is doing in our lives. Tonight, I'm going to focus on the things that excite me and things that I'm grateful for in this present moment. 

1. I am thankful to be alive. Life is truly a gift and the fact that I have a pulse is a sign that I am able to make things better for myself and for those around me. Service is the rent you pay for living. 

2. I am thankful for the wonderful invention of audiobooks. I was stuck in a little bit of traffic this evening which made the commute a little bit longer than usual. The audiobook I am currently listening really helped to make the commute a total breeze. The book I'm listening to is called So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport. 

3. I have a working car that can take me from Point A to Point B safely. I am very grateful and thankful for my car and I love it very much! 

4. My reading list so far is so incredible. I am really excited about one of the books I am reading called Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. I am really enjoying the book and a lot of the information is more like a stimulant for my brain which is a good thing. I don't want to be stimulated by coffee :) 

5. God's hand of protection is constantly over me. God has been removing people from my life that are no good for me. And I'm grateful because some of these people are folk that I wouldn't have the strength to leave myself. So God is doing it for me. 

6. God put it in my heart to start a dance ministry and I have wonderful dancers! They are excited to dance and be a part of the team. In addition to that, I've been getting more and more ideas of how to create more of a familial environment so that my members can bond more with one another. I know it will happen with time but I just want to make sure I'm facilitating an environment that encourages that. 

7. I have the opportunity to serve as an Elder-in-training at my church. I really see it as an opportunity to grow and go deeper in my relationship with Christ. My mentor is so awesome and I'm excited to see what this year will bring with this new role. 

8. This challenge is forcing me to stick to something and really push through even on the days when I'm tired. I fell off the wagon over the weekend but I made sure that I did the catch-up posts so I wouldn't fall behind! 

Okay. That's it for now! I'm going to call it quits for tonight but I like this list. I'll do this from time to time as the challenge continues. 

The BEST Part of Waking Up...

Americans have been hoodwinked by advertising. For years, we have been told that the best part of waking up is Folger's in our cups. The Millennials took it a step further and made it super cool to have Starbucks in our cups. It's pretty scary to think about how addicted I once was to white chocolate mocha lattes. I needed one when I went into work that morning and depending on how bad the day was, I would get one at lunchtime. It was pretty crazy. I was hooked. I gave it all up a couple years ago after an amazing concert. The artist inspired in that concert to zone into Christ and find my energy in Him and not coffee. Random, I know but it's the truth. 

However, recently I've learned that the best part of waking up is a green smoothie in my cup! I'm going to have to go to the grocery store and get more green smoothie ingredients because I'm all out at this point. I have enough to make one more smoothie tomorrow morning and then it's back to the store I go. The awesome thing is that I bought all the ingredients and then separated the ingredients into their own freezer bag. So all I have to do in the morning is pull out a bag and pour the contents into the blender. While it blends, I go and make my bed. When I'm done, I have a delicious smoothie to drink for breakfast. It's so simple and nutritious. Incorporating this simple habit into my routine has really been encouraging me to keep searching for ways to tweak what I'm doing and step it up a little bit more. I know that breakfast is supposed to be the heaviest meal of the day so I'm wondering if I should save the green smoothie for the evening or do one in the morning and one at night? I've gotten so used to it in the morning and I really look forward to it. 

I also want to make sure I am drinking a whole lot more water. I make sure to carry water in my trunk so I'm never without it. I've tried to carry around the big 64 oz jug but that really felt crazy. I need my water in increments. 

I have had many people tell me that I looked as if I were getting smaller over the past couple months. When I got on the scale, I was 15 pounds lighter. I think it was a mix of chasing after kids/pushing a stroller and grazing. For months, I've been eating granola bars, applesauce, and little random healthy snacks that I can just have on the go. I also noticed that I wasn't eating a lot of bread at all. I've never been one to shy away from bread or pasta because I really like those foods. There is, however, a difference in the way my clothes fit and the fact that I haven't been living to eat. I've been so busy that it's been more of an "eat to live" situation. 

The Devotion that lasted all day

I love that God is so incredibly detailed when it comes to our lives.

He loves us so much it's overwhelming and we can't fully comprehend it. Last night, I really wanted to wake up during the 5am hour to get my devotion done and get a earlier start on the day. My alarm clock decides when it wants to work so it's not the most dependable source. I prayed and called it a night. Do you know God woke me up at 5:30 this morning?! I felt well rested and ready to get on into my devotion. It's almost as if God was saying, "Wake up, Dani! I really want to spend some time with you." That makes me feel kind of special. Little things like that make me feel like God really does pursue me and love me. Spending the time with Him at an earlier time felt even more intimate than usual. It really really was awesome and set the tone for the rest of my day. It was crazy because I got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic on I-495 this morning. There was a really bad accident. I really hoped no one died. The unexpected traffic turned 495 into a parking lot. I am not exaggerating. What is usually a 45 minute commute took me two hours this morning. The crazy thing was that I continued to have worship in the car.

I've been listening to Anthony Brown & Group TherAPy a lot lately after seeing them in an INCREDIBLE concert at Brinklow SDA a couple months back. So, I had "Do It Again" and "Deep Enough" on repeat. After a while, I listened to an awesome podcast by Heather Lindsey. Heather Lindsey and her husband, Cornelius are a dynamic duo located in Atlanta, Ga. Cornelius is the pastor of The Gathering Oasis church in ATL and Heather leads the Pinky Promise Movement. I really like their ministry and look forward to meeting them in a few weeks when they come to the area to preach! I'm really excited about that! I was almost finished with Heather's podcast when I finally pulled up at the job. The kids were so happy to finally see me and even though they can't formulate too many words yet, I could tell they were wondering where I was and what took me so long so that I could pick them up. haha. I'm thankful for a boss who is more concerned that I get to work safely and couldn't care less about the traffic. Can I just say, "Hallelujah!" I'm definitely not on pins and needles at work. While the kids were playing with one another, I kept an eye on them as I sat in the kitchen, ate my lunch and continued my devotion. I just keep trying to steal a little bit more time in reading. I was in Romans 4 where Abraham believed God at His word. I want to believe God. A couple days ago, I talked about my knowledge that He loves me and cares for my every need and concern. I just want to truly believe it with my heart. I guess you could say it was one of those "I believe! Help my unbelief" situations.

I am a work in progress. He's (thankfully) not finished with me yet. 

Day #12: Caught-Up

I've been playing catch up for the past two posts so now I'm on the post for today- day #12. I actually enjoyed sleeping in today. I slept in until 8 this morning and then I stayed in bed for another 2 hours. It felt great! I was supposed to have a meeting at 9:30 this morning at church but it ended up being cancelled. I still went to the church for dance rehearsal which started at 1pm. 

Can I just say that dance rehearsal was awesome?!? I'm super excited! It was such a great reunion and rehearsal. I hadn't seen all the dancers in one place in a while. We also have two new dancers. One dancer wasn't able to make it today but the other dancer came and she was so good! I was really happy because we were able to open up with a great devotion which really spoke to us in a way I really couldn't have planned. Afterwards, we stretched and then got started learning the moves. I'm really excited about this group. The girls that I have are committed and I know that they will do an incredible job! 

Our first opportunity to minister at our church will be at the end of March. I decided to take things up a couple of notches this go round with the choreography. Last time, the choreography was pretty simple but that was just to get a good introduction. It was also so that I could get a good gauge for where each dancer's skill was at. Now, they know what to expect from me. I know what they're capable of and I will push them to better! I can be a teeny tiny bit of a drill sergeant when it comes to the details. I'll go over a certain part over and over and over again until they get it right. I'm not mean and ruthless though. I know when to quit. Needless to say, I am pumped and the girls know that we are officially in work mode. 

One of the things I will be pushing for also is consistency. We only performed once as a group last year. The other two times the church saw a dance ministry was from me as a solo. At first, I was REALLY against the idea of doing a praise dance solo. I really really didn't want to do it. Now that I've done it twice, I can how I don't mind getting on us a regular schedule so that we have more than one performance for each season. Our downfall was the summertime/fall back-to-school time. So, if that were to happen this year, I'd at least be more comfortable doing a solo dance until the girls are ready to go again. I think it's important to see praise & worship in different forms beside singing especially since Heaven is going to be a place of celebration. I can't imagine standing in Heaven and not jumping, leaping, and twirling for joy at the fact that I made it. Then add the factor of wings into the picture. You can forget it. Can you imagine the choreography I could do with wings? Lol! Ok. Let me not get carried away. It was a great day and I'm happy about it. :) 

Day #11 Catch-Up

Day #11 was the Sabbath. I promise you the Sabbath went by soooo quickly. It's been doing that lately. It's really crazy. Then again, my days seem to be going pretty quickly as well. The fact that the sun sets earlier in the wintertime doesn't really help things.

So, on this particular day, I went to my home church. I was scheduled to sing on the praise team. When I was getting ready that particular morning, I decided to switch things up a bit and instead of wearing my "twist and tuck" low bun, I decided to do a high bun. I really do want to be better about switching up the way I do my hair. I always do the same thing because it's an easy protective style. As soon as I walked into church, one of the ushers immediately noted my new hairstyle. She was an usher that I don't usually get a chance to have conversation with so when this happened, it threw me off for a second like, "man! is it that noticeable?" haha. whatever.

It was my first Sabbath not singing with Metro Praiz (sad face). I was scheduled for praise team that Sabbath so it was so weird to see everyone getting robes and I wasn't getting one too. Closer to the end of last year, I decided to leave Metro Praiz so that I could really dig my heels into REALM. Even though I still really want to sing in the choir, I just don't have any more energy for choir rehearsals. To expect to show up and sing the day of as never been my style and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it now. I was missing tons of rehearsals leading up to the Metro Praiz concerts because of things going on at home. With the combination of family issues and the involvement I already have in church, I decided that I was going to have to start cutting some things. I reasoned that Metro Praiz has an abundance of altos so even though I enjoy singing with them, there's no dire need for altos. There is a need for consistent people on praise team and those rehearsals are once a month, so I can definitely agree to something like that. Besides, I can't cut out ALL the music in my life. That woudn't be cool! So whenever MP sings, I'll just sing from my seat in support.

I did get to sing praise team and that was cool. It was my first time singing under our leader, Michael. He is one of the new praise and worship leaders at my church and everytime he lead out, I was usually in children's church so I never experienced him as a leader. He was great. I really admire the talents & gifts of my minister of music and the praise team leaders. Leading the church in worship is not an easy task. As a worship leader, you have the ability to set the tone of the service. It's so vital that whoever is leading is in direct connection with the Holy Spirit because you never know what burdens people are coming to church with. A testimony in song could be the very thing to get them through the next week. So it's a challenging task that I applaud them for and I'm happy that I can serve as support to help lead the congregation in worship. It's a blessing.

Day #10 Catchup

I'm so disappointed because I missed both Friday and Saturday posts for the challenge. Even though I was really tired, I should've scheduled it in. I've been waiting until 11 pm to remember to do the posts. On both nights, 11 pm came and went and it was completely out of my mind.

Friday was an interesting day. One of my closest sister friends was driving through Maryland to get to Atlanta. Actually, this friend was the same one who designed the graphic at the top of this blog. Anyway, she came Thursday night and left on Friday morning. We were having a conversation on Friday morning about life, purpose and how God's love ties into all of it. It's interesting because even though I know God loves me and have heard it a billion times in songs, scriptures and in church, there is still a large portion of me that hasn't fully received that in my heart as fact. There is the underlying belief that God is ready to condemn me based on what I'm not doing right. I feel like everything I have is a result of God being nice to me but He doesn't always have to be nice. So I should just learn to accept the good that comes and expect the bad because I'm a sinner so I deserve any evil that comes my way. When we really took the time to break down what we believed, it was heartbreaking and pretty sobering. Crazy thing is that I also treat God like a genie. If I rub God the right way, He'll give me everything that I want. If I read my Bible, pray, love and serve, then I should be able to get everything I want. NO! NO! NO!!! This is the way that I try to control God. It sounds awful. I know. I'm not doing it on purpose. I don't know if that makes it any better though.

Reading my Bible, praying, loving and serving are natural habits of someone who loves God and is committed to Him. It's hard to understand how God loves fully and it may always be hard. However, I want to make sure that my love is sincere and true. I never want to give expecting something in return. I want to give from a place that is grateful and really desires to make God happy. It sounds corny, but I really do want to make God smile. I want to be pleasing in His sight. I don't want to run on autopilot in any part of my relationship with Him. There are so many times when my prayers say the same thing. How would you feel if when you talked to someone,  they always came with the same conversation? Things will get stale pretty fast. It's important to talk about other things in conversation. Reciting the "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food we eat. Amen." prayers only work for so long. There have been plenty of times where my prayers were stuck on autopilot to the point where I would wonder if I had prayed that day. Yes, I probably did but it was a mindless prayer. Mindless conversations benefit no one. Mindlessly asking God for safe traveling mercies on the road isn't cool. If anything, God's mercy in spite of me is what keeps me safe on the road.

Maybe I'm looking too deep into it...

nah. I'm not.

time to do better. period.

Be Ready In the Morning!

Sidebar: I'm going to post this as a post on my other blog as well. I like it that much and I don't want to write twice in one night. haha. :) 

"Early to bed; early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." 

My mother used to recite this popular quote by Benjamin Franklin when my sisters and I were little. We used to like staying up late to watch television and she would always use this saying to remind us that staying up late was never in our best interest. 

One of the most beautiful traits my mother possessed was the ability to gently lead by example. My mom was born in Grenada, W.I. and naturally loved the heat. The laundry room was the warmest place in the entire house and so she loved going in there to study. She even had her own special couch in the room so she could be comfortable. Mom would do her morning devotion and then she would study/do homework (she was a teacher and was also in a Master's program at GW). She would do this routine every morning at 5 am. As a result, she was able to be successful in juggling her class load, achieving straight As all while managing a home, career, children and a husband. Even though she's not here anymore, my respect and admiration for her continues to grow daily. 

In Exodus, we read about Moses and his challenging journey with the Children of Israel through the wilderness. At one point, Moses communed with God and received the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). However, when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, he found the Children of Israel worshipping a golden calf. He was so furious that he threw the two Ten Commandment-inscribed tablets on the ground, breaking them to pieces. So since the Ten Commandments are pretty important and they needed them, God felt it was important to give Moses another copy. God is so particular when it comes to His instructions so it's important to listen when He speaks. So, In Exodus 34, God gives instruction to Moses on what to do next so that He can get the tablets. Verse 2 opens up with God telling Moses to, "be ready in the morning".  

Now, I know that God can meet with us anytime and anywhere. However, for some reason, I believe there is something special about getting into the habit of early rising. Many people who have achieved levels of success that they never dreamed possible have noted that early rising helped them get there. Upon further reading in Exodus 34, God instructs Moses to come to Mt. Sinai early and alone. There's something significant about communing with God without any people to distract you. Early mornings are the time when the world is the most quiet. A lot of people are still asleep and the business of the day hasn't begun quite yet. Even the Proverbs 31 woman gets up in verse 15, "while it is still dark." So she's up before the sun! Some of my most intimate moments with Christ have happened when I've risen early in the morning. 

Testimony.

My church splits up the prayer meeting by age range. In the few times that I've gone, I've sat in the young adult prayer meeting. It's pretty awesome. However, today I sat and fellowshipped with the seniors in my church for prayer meeting. To hear their perspective, transparency, and fervor for Christ was both heart-warming and refreshing. The encouragement of the older generation is so important and so vital. If we, as the younger generation, can know that there is someone who has run the course and is rooting for us, it really helps to make the journey even more worthwhile. 

Tonight, I heard so many testimonies and prayer requests. However, there was one line in one of the testimonies that stood out to me so much. One member thanked God for her sister's death because she is now beyond the reach of the enemy. Man. I've never ever heard someone articulate death quite that way. 

Even though we miss our loved ones terribly, it is a comforting thought to know that they are beyond the enemy's reach now. The enemy is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Well, bless God he can't devour them. 

However it makes me think a little more. Technically, those of us who are in Christ are beyond the enemy's reach in that he can't devour us unless we don't surrender to Christ and allow Him to take over. When we look at the story of Job, God asked the devil if He had considered Job. The devil just wasn't allowed to devour him. In the end, Job was still out of the enemy's grasp because he made the decision to follow Christ all the way. He famously said, "though he slay me yet will I trust Him!" 

I'm making a conscious effort to work on my emotions. The goal is to make sure that I am not being emotionally led. I always want to be God-led in everything I do. I will admit that if I went through what Job went through, I can't honestly say I wouldn't try to die. Job's wife encouraged him to curse God and die. I'd rather not curse God (at least not intentionally) but I'd probably try to die only because after all Job went through, you'd expect a "kill me now and I don't believe you love me God" attitude. There were some bitter times in this story but at the end of the day, Job knew he would trust God no matter what. 

I am exhausted and I'm really not sure if any of this is truly making sense. Lol! 

Singing some of the old hymns in the senior prayer meeting was really nice. I learned one or two more hymns that I didn't know. I loved how it was a given that no one skipped verses. Everyone sang and knew all 5 stanzas BY HEART. It reminded me of when my parents had family worship with us early early in the morning. One of the things I remember from family worship was the fact that my parents made sure I knew all the words to songs like Lord in the morning. My sisters could hum but I had to know the words. To this day, it doesn't seem very fair but that song has grown on me and I can appreciate the beautiful words and melodies of hymns. 

Tuesday.

Right now, the main thing on my mind is snuggling up under the covers and pinning stuff on Pinterest. It's been quite a day and 500 words seems like it will take forever. But, here were some of the highlights of the day: 

1. A few weeks ago, I bought a bunch of spinach, frozen fruit and fresh bananas. I made smoothie bags. Smoothie bags are all the contents I would need for one smoothie frozen in a ziploc bag. When I'm ready for a green smoothie, all I do is pull a smoothie bag out of the freezer the night before and place it in the fridge. The next morning, it's ready to be placed in the blender for a delicious morning blend! I was so excited about my smoothie bags and then I broke the blender ;-( So I've had a ton of smoothie bags just sitting in the freezer waiting for a new blender. Well, I finally got a new blender this past Sunday and used it this morning for my smoothie. I knew I needed an extra boost and this drink totally did it! It was delightfully delicious. I'm already looking forward to my smoothie for tomorrow morning. I think this is a really good ritual for helping me get out of my warm bed in the morning. Don't you? ;-)

2. I was excited about layering up today. In Maryland, the temperature was in the single digits. When I left the house to go to work this morning, the weather was 5 degrees! Intense, uh? So I wore two pair of leggings, one pair of really loose jeans, a camisole, a turtleneck, a blouse and a hoodie! To keep the moisture in my hair, I wore a plastic shower cap, cotton beanie and a another knitted beanie on top of that one. I was LAYERED! The only place where I felt a bit of a chill was on my actual face. I didn't want to wear a face mask though. I thought that would be overkill! When I got to work, my boss couldn't help but laugh because I was clearly not playing with the cold. 

3. I made it to work safely and didn't get stuck in any traffic! The roads were super clear! I'm thinking a lot of people must have telecommuted to avoid the low temperatures but it made my morning and evening commute a complete breeze! 

4. I have a warm bed and heat to come home to. To be living in this winter weather is incredibly brutal. I just pray that any homeless people were able to get transported to shelters these past couple nights. It's unreasonably cold and incredibly dangerous out there. I really try not to take these blessings for granted. It could easily be the other way around. Have mercy. 

5. I was pretty discouraged about a few things this afternoon and God truly encouraged me. I called a friend and I got to a point where I almost deleted my blog, my social media presence for the blog and quit it all. I was really upset and was asking God to give me something to tell me not give up and that my hard work and sacrifice wasn't all in vain. He used a few simple messages to encourage me and one of them was from Jeff Goins. How ironic? It's almost as if God was rubbing my back and saying, "it's gonna be okay. Keep doing what you're doing."

so I will :-) 

Natural & Relaxed.

Today was an unusually long day for me. I had a major task to check off that had been on my to-do list for two months. I finished part 1 of the task. So I still have pt.2, 3, and 4 to do. Prayerfully, I will have it all done by the end of the week. I'm helping my dad move a ton of books to a used bookstore. So right now, books have taken over the entire backseat and floor of my car. I didn't know that my dad dumped the books in the backseat so when I got in the car, I saw that my backseat looked like I was a major hoarder. It's super super cold outside tonight. It's actually 27 degrees. But I was so grossed out at the sight of all those books strewn across the seat and floor that I actually stopped and stacked up all the books in a somewhat "neat" manner. I couldn't leave the books like that in my right mind. Tomorrow is supposed to be 7 degrees outside so I might have to ride around with these books for another day since I doubt any bookstore owner would want to bring a cart out in the frigid cold to help me move the books. That wouldn't be very nice to ask of any employee.

So I got home and after dinner, a short convo with the sis and a little organizing of my own stuff, I decided to continue the battle of moisturizing my hair. My hair has been reacting negatively to the elements. It gets really really dry to the point where I contemplate cutting it all off. I've been wearing a bun for literally MONTHS. My hair has just been so frail that I don't like wearing it out in fear that the weather will suck the moisture out of it. So, I've been actively doing my best to get into a nightly routine of moisturizing and sealing my hair. I've been doing it for a long time but I didn't do it faithfully on a nightly basis. I would do it every other night or just twice a week. After watching a YouTube video about it, I've decided to up the ante and make it a nightly routine. So every night, I now spritz a teeny bit of water, finger detangle (lightly) and add Jamaican black castor oil to my hair with special attention to the ends. After that, I braid it up and it feels so soft and moisturized. This makes me both happy and it's actually pretty relaxing for me. I feel like it's a chance for me to unwind and show myself a little TLC.

After my hair is in a few plaits, I cover my head with a plastic shower cap and a silk scarf. It creates a greenhouse effect where my hair is getting a little bit of conditioning & moisturizing throughout the night. Last night, I massaged my scalp with some rosemary essential oil and I can still smell it in my hair. It's a pretty strong scent but it makes me feel like something must be getting some moisture up there.

A part of me wondered if I was being a bad steward of my time to take time to do this routine but I've decided that's not the case. I'm being a good steward of what has been giving to me. I need to do the same with the rest of my life and make sure I make myself & my well-being a priority. It's easy to put work, family, church and people ahead of yourself. And I know I'm making sure to put myself on the list in a lot of good, unselfish ways!

And I think I'll end my random rant here for this evening :-)

Les Brown Makes My World Go Round!

One of my favorite motivational speakers is Les Brown. When it's time for me to get up and get moving on something, I usually enjoy listening to him because his voice is so encouraging and I learn so much from him about achieving goals. I used to listen to him when I was in grind mode with work 2 years ago. I was working really long hours with this former job and I got to a point where I was breaking down. Listening to Les Brown really helped me get through that period. However, once I got out of that period, I stopped listening to him. I got comfortable and thought I didn't need motivational messages anymore. 

Here's the thing. We live in a world that is naturally sinful and prone to focus on the negative. Just look at the news. If you indulge in the negative conversation, it becomes your reality. Les Brown often speaks of changing the conversation in your head. We have been programmed to believe certain things about ourselves. In order to deprogram our minds of the garbage and reprogram them for success, we have to tell ourselves a different story. Joel Osteen is an extremely positive motivational speaker. Speaking words of encouragement are his forte.  Listening to positive messaging is really great for changing the conversation in your head even while you're doing humdrum work or sitting in the car in traffic. Some of my other favorite speakers to listen to include Tony Robbins, Lisa Nichols, Pastor Steven Furtick, Oprah and Eric Thomas. I like listening to the podcast of Curlbox Founder & CEO Myleik Teele. She focuses a lot on personal development. I'll also listen to informative podcasts on NPR and different TED talks. Those two channels never cease to inspire me! It's critical to make sure you are surrounding yourself with a positive conversation and encouraging people. I've heard that for every negative comment you hear, you need 5-7 positive comments to counteract the negative. That's an obvious sign that it takes work to be positive and see the good in every situation. It's possible though. 

In the past couple years, I've been learning how to see the good and squeeze the lemon juice out of the lemons so I can use it. Lemons have so many great qualities beside providing tall glasses of ice cold lemonade! Lemons can be a great cleaning agent for household items like the refrigerator. If you push a lemon rind in the sink and turn the garbage disposal on, it's a fantastic deodorizer. Drinking lemon water is a fantastic way to help purify the blood.  Lemon juice can soften skin.  If you want to brighten up your complexion, rub a little bit of lemon juice on there. The uses are endless! It's the same with your negative situations. If you choose to focus on God and what He can do through you in those difficult times, He will show you different ways that the trials can be used as blessings to enhance your life. The rewards, a lot of times, are countless and priceless! 

Surprise!

How do you feel about surprises? 

Personally, the way I feel about surprises depends on the nature of the surprise. If it's a pleasant surprise, it's welcomed with open arms! A pleasant surprise in my world would be: 

1. "Surprise! You've won an $50,000 gift card to Anthropologie and it's renewable every year!"

2. "Surprise! Purple is the national color of the Universe in honor of you!"

3. "Surprise! Everything you've ever pinned on Pinterest is in the mail free of charge!"

4. "Surprise! Your body will become perfect and you don't have to work out!"

5. "Surprise! Everyone you love is happy, healthy and at peace!"

6. "Surprise! You've met an incredible man who is totally in love with you and He wants to marry you and be faithful forever!"

7. "Surprise! You're gonna make it to Heaven!" 

8. "Surprise! You're going to get a gifted copy of any book you want plus a chance to sit down with the author of said book (if they're alive). 

9. "Surprise! You live in a dream bungalow in Bethesda!" 

10. "Surprise! You get to travel the world whenever you want!" 

11. "Surprise! You are worry-free!" 

12. "Surprise! When you blink, traffic ceases to exist!"

13. "Surprise! You can work on whatever you want, whenever you want!"

14. "Surprise! There's world peace!" 

15. "Surprise! Homelessness, AIDS & disease don't exist!" 

16. "Surprise!"

17. "Surprise!"

18. "Surprise!" 

"Surprise! You have the power to make a lot of these wishes happen!"

Talk about having a "gotcha" moment!!! 

I can actually make a lot of things on that list happen in real life. As I really sit down and think about what I want in life, God is in control but He did give me freedom of choice. Another I like to think of freedom of choice is "creative direction!" God made me the creative director of my life. The happiness, pleasurable experiences and joy that I choose to feel can't come from any of these. It has to be rooted in Christ. However, the ability to make this list come to life actually lies within me. It's been dormant and I need to figure out a way to wake it up. 

Actually... come to think of it...having exercises that challenge me like this #my500words challenge are great for helping me to master an art and lay a positive foundation for future challenges. Greatness lies within all of us. The ability of make our dreams come true lies within all of us as well. The difference between wishing it happened to you and making it happen for yourself is the discipline and taking deliberate action. If you don't have people in your ear motivating you and letting you know that you can do anything you put your mind too can wear on you. Our minds are constantly bombarded with the negative. We're told to be realistic, modest or appropriate in the things we go after. It's too flashy to want nice things. It apparently brings too much attention to you. I disagree. I think it's all in the approach. If you idolize it, then you're in trouble. 

Within the past two paragraphs, I think I've merged a bunch of different topics into one. It's after 11:30 on a Saturday night and for some reason, I'm actually tired. What happened to the days where you could stay up till 4 or 5 am and be totally fine and refreshed the next day? I'm getting old. Old isn't a bad thing. I'm just recognizing the shift. I had a hard time falling asleep last night and it bit me in the butt today with a vengeance. I took a quick nap this evening but to honest, my body is all out of wack. I'm going to go to sleep asap. Good night. 

Chef Boyar-DANI: Pasta Carrabba, Eggplant Parmesan & Crockpot Mac & Cheese

Call me corny but I'm one of those girls who actually likes to be in the kitchen. I don't like the stereotypical concept of "being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen". There's so much about that concept that seems so inconsiderate to me.  However,  I enjoy the creative process of taking separate ingredients, blending them together and making a delicious meal. Besides, I'm sure I'm not the only one who goes to a restaurant and vows to figure out how to recreate the meal on my own at home. Some of my favorite dishes to create were inspired by meals I had at restaurants. In 2006, while in undergrad, I went to the popular Italian restaurant, Carrabba's. Their Pasta Carrabba dish stood out the most to me that night and I tried it. The dish is a fettuccine alfredo dish with sautéed mushrooms, sweet peas and seasoned with garlic and black pepper! I loved it so much and decided to go home and try it on my own. The following year, I became a vegetarian so I just alternated the grilled chicken in the dish for Morningstar Sausage patties instead. To this day, it's one of my favorite dishes to make. 

Another really inspiring tool I use for cooking is Pinterest! It’s really easy to become addicted to it because there is a never-ending thread of inspiring topics to choose from. It’s also an excellent bookmarking system right at your fingertips. Pinterest allows you to have virtual bulletin boards and the boards are sorted by topic. So I have a board specifically for the food I want to one-day cook. I’m slowly but surely making it through my board. Last week, I made a really delicious and healthier version of eggplant parmesan. It was great because I didn’t have to fry the eggplant or use any oil.  By saturating the eggplant in milk, dipping it in breadcrumbs and then baking it, you create a crispy feel. After taking it out of the oven, I went ahead and layered the cheese, sauce, and eggplant and then baked it again. It was very delicious if I do say so myself! J

Pinterest also inspired me to make a crockpot macaroni and cheese dish! I will admit that you’d have to see it to believe it. It’s really hard to believe that the macaroni and cheese I made came from a crockpot! Since mac & cheese is one of my all-time favorite foods, I figured I wouldn’t discriminate against the recipe since it was made in a crockpot. I’m so glad I tried it. It was gone in about 2 days. My younger sister was a super junkie for it and even ate it cold. I thought that the consistency of the mac & cheese would be thick, gooey & creamy but thank goodness, it wasn’t.  It really didn’t take long to make the dish either. All I had to do was cook the noodles over the stove and then dump all the ingredients in the crockpot. 3 hours later, I was in mac and cheese heaven.

So as you can see, I thoroughly enjoy my cooking adventures. As the challenge continues, I'll share more of my cooking experiences! :) 

Nothing Without Him.

"In Him do I live, move and have my being. I'm nothing without you."

A simple reminder in song by Jason Nelson is in my spirit tonight. I'm so humbled by the fact that I'm absolutely nothing without Christ. I don't even want to begin to think of life without Him. Even with Christ in my life, I'm still a mess. I'm a mess because of me and my disobedience to His will but yet still He loves me. 

At the start of 2012, I began writing in a gratitude journal. I called it "12 for 2012" where I would write down 12 things that I was grateful for in a day. Now, I'm at "14 for 2014" which is pretty cool! When I sat down to write the 14 things I was grateful for, I literally had to stop myself because I was so humbled by how much I can't do on my own. I can't give myself life and breath. I don't control whether or not my heart continues to beat. I can't keep myself in my own right mind. This is all the miraculous working power of an almighty God. When you sit down and take the time to write out all the things you are grateful for, you realize how blessed you truly are. It's so easy for me to get caught up in what I don't have or the things I think I need. As a result, I've made a concerted effort since 2012 to make gratitude a mandatory discipline that I must practice in my life. It's a great "glass half full" habit to get into. 

At the end of 2013, I sat down and read through my “13 for 2013” journal entries. Looking back, it’s so interesting to see what was heavy on my heart at the time and what I was facing. There were so many blessings that I was so grateful for and then completely forgot about.  It’s a total shame because God has done so many amazing things in my life. Unfortunately, I often act as if He’s done nothing for me. I’ll focus mainly on the current challenge and mull over how to fix it myself. If I were in the position where I was consistently blessing a person with so many wonderful things yet all they could see were the things I wasn’t giving them when they wanted it, I would be too through with the person. Why am I like that with God? I think that it’s really incredible how God is so consistent and loving in spite of how I am to Him. I’m grateful for His love and yet still so humbled by how much He puts up with me in my mess.

God takes it very seriously when His people complain. We are commanded to give thanks in all things. We have a hope of a greater tomorrow in Christ so we are supposed to press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. We have a calling and purpose to glorify God in all that we do. This includes our daily language. Do we speak in such a way that would encourage others to draw closer to Him because of who He is? In 2014, I’m charging myself to show gratitude in my speech, thought life and interactions with others. Life is blessing and giving thanks for each breath is important. I don’t want to use the breath that is a gift to curse the life that I’ve been blessed to live.

Guess who's back?

I never thought I'd write in this blog again. I really didn't. 

I started another blog called Dream Something Up. Why would I reopen this one? 

Well, I got the idea literally today from Melissa Andrews. Melissa is such an inspiration to me in so many ways. I honestly believe she's superwoman but is trying to stay under cover.  She's the Communications Director at my church, Metropolitan SDA and she has her own blog too! Check it out!  She tweeted me a challenge from Jeff Goins encouraging writers to write 500 words a day for the next 31 days.  

I love to read and I love to write. I love to share what my interests and what I'm working on. On Dream Something Up, I've been sharing more about God and the lessons I learn. On DSO, I prefer to plan and have scheduled posts and that won't stop. However, it would be nice to continue where I left off here and right whatever I want to write about for 500 words and call it a day. At the same time, it would be a practice that I do daily as well. I already write almost daily for clients since I am a freelancer but I have a ton of room for improvement. I'm glad for this challenge and excited for where it will lead me. 

So the first day of the year is ending as quickly as it began. It makes me think that this year will do the same. 2013 literally flew by. I feel like I have been in a holding pattern of sorts for a while now. There have been a lot of struggles and challenges. I know that I can't control what God will do, but I do want to make sure that I'm doing what I can to ensure that I can live a life that's a little more stress-free. It's possible. I know it is. 2013 ended on a pretty sad note and I don't want to walk into 2014 with the same outlook. I decided that I will have to make a more concerted effort to fight for my happiness, peace and contentment. I need to become a little more liberal with the 'decline' button and let things go to voicemail. Of course, I'll respond in a timely manner. I'm not going off the grid but I do want to make sure that work within a set of boundaries. I've found that I allow certain people to walk all over my boundaries and while they are well meaning, it's not healthy for me. In turn, I become resentful and bitter. There's nothing cute about being resentful and bitter.

In 2014, I'm really excited because to give my year more purpose and focus, I've decided to call this year "the purple year". I won't get too deep into the story behind the name tonight but I love the color and I love life. I never took dance lessons. I've always wanted to have formal dance training. I've always wanted to learn how to sew. I'd love to buy pieces from the thrift store and then tailor them for my body. If I see a cute piece in a store, I'd like to be able to recreate it for myself. 

That's just the beginning of it all. I'm rambling but it's cool. No one reads this anyway. :) 

Good night. 

Oh and Happy New Year ;)